Indicator



April 2, 1935. R. G. WILLIAMS INDICATOR Filed May 26, 1954 0 Hanni/1' Patented Apr. 2, 1935 1 I A,

UNITED STATES; PATENT" OFFICE INDICATOR p 4 Roger G; Williams, Okmulgee, Okla., assignor of llxfhalf to William H. Hancock, 'Okmulgeep Application May 26, 1934, Serial No.`72v7,786

' comme.v rc1'. io-65) Y This invention relates. to indicators fand more fully telescoped position withinfthe. casing '5' particularly to a price indicating device especially shown in r'Figure 1 so that` the over-all dirnenfy adapted for use by gasoline station attendants. sions of the indicator will be such'a'sfto alloW1th'e An important feature of the invention resides same to be convenientlyca-rried in the'pocket of' 5 in the provision of a device fora'ccurately indithe vgasoline station attendant or .to be*V placed, 5 cating the total price of gasoline purchases at near the cash register of the gas station. .f given rates per gallon, thereby avoiding the need Asjsliown'in Figures `l and 2, the front Wallfof of lmental vcomputation on the part iof the at-v the casing 5 is `in the nature of alrectangul'afr tendant oroperator. frame having' narrow Vlsides( and ends providing Another important feature of the invention is aWindoW l of relatively generous proportionslo to provide an indicating 'device of exceedingly and across-Which Window there is .extended a compact construction which may be conveniently transparent enclosure or pane 8. Obviously, 'this' carried on 'the person of the attendantA or which arrangement affords a vievv of the chart carried may be located bn the cash register or on the by the member 6 and prevents the chart from, y desk of 'a person checking sales tickets. s being soiled While beingcarried in the pocketor 15 A further 'aim is to provide a price indicating `hands of a gasoline Station attendant. I, device in tvhich there Avvill be found 'means for yAs clearly illustrated in Figure 3, the chart'. supporting and displaying ya' plurality of strips holder Gis of hollow construction having the front bearing price indications of gasoline figured yatl Wall thereof providedfwith a .plurality of longi- Y current "por prevailing pricesper gallon, in contudinallyextendingv, Spafd, Dara1l1-elemnts01 20` junction with which there is provided Ia storage ribs Sco-operating to dene a plurali-ty lof 16nspace "or cornpartmentfor the reception yof addigitudinally extending strip receiving grooves l0. tional strips bearing price indications for gasoline Asrshown, the elements 91 are formed integral at 'other prices'p'er gallon affording means 'hy with" the front wall of the holder 6, but "it is, of 251 which those strips bearing the price indications course, understood that these elements may be 25 forg'a's'oli'ne a't current or prevailing'prices maybe separate elements secured to the front wall of the conveniently arranged for display or 'use while the holder in any preferred. manner. A

remaining strips are packed `away in'theistorage' The grooves l!)Y are adaptedy to removably andv space therefor protecting the same against wear, selectively receive relativelynarrow ,price indi-Vv lss or `being soiled. Y eating strips I5, jeachone of r.which is adapted 30 Oth'er objects :and advantages vof the invention for use in determining the yprice of gasoline purwill'be'a'pp'arent during the course of the following chases at -a given. price per gallon. Y ThatV is Vto description. say,v there will `be one strip for-gasoline at seven# In the'accompa'nyingdrawing forming apart of teen cents ay gallon, another strip for .gasoline this application and in which, like numerals at eighteen centsa gallon and soon through the 35 vdesigriatelike'parts'tliroughoutthesame, j entire range of prices that prevail from ltime to Figure lis a perspective vView of the, indicator, time. l A y Figure 2 is a similar `vieW with the chart car- For the purpose of neatness and ease of opera- Y I'Hel' 0T liOld 'partially Withdrawn IOm the `CaS- tion, ther strips I5 Will -befound to completely fill 40 ing, theggrooves-Ill @with the outer faces of the 4strips .40

Figure?. is Ta ygroup perspective of thedevice, :flush with theouter facesof the ribs 9.

lFigure 4Vis a transverse sectional view through f It is believed to be clear that. Athe strips l5 the device, g may be formed `from -celluloidfor other material `Figures 5,'6 and lare fragmentary perspectiveV found suitable `for the purpose and eitherv or vie'v'vs frth'e chart holder 7 illustrating :modified lo'othsides of the strips zmay bear 'columns of 45 n 'formsf'the price'strip and 'strip'accominodating numbers 2l) for `use in indicating lthe vtotal price groove. y Y of-one-orlmore gallons ofgasolineatgiven rates ln the drawing, the numeral Svfge'nerally desigper v:gallon eitherwithfor Without the tax or othnates'asubstantially rectangularcasinghadapted er extra charges. Y n lto 'slidahly and removably "receive through the For cooperation with the price'indications on 50 bpfen upprendtheref'a similarly A"shape'dchart thestrips l5, thetwo intermediate elementsvror hlde'rnr'carrierl. ribs fare1pro'vided -Withcolumnsof lgallon desig- Except fvvh'en 'the 'indicator is. actually being nating '-numbers: 25 4which -are spaced to correeplyedin calculating'agiven duantityofgas spond Awith the lspacing of the numbers A20 `on line or L"the like, the'cha'rtholder ll'occupiesthe the priceindicating strips I5-so that `thegallon 55 stantly changing or fluctuating and for this reason it is necessary to have conveniently at hand a number of price indicating strips l5 for use with current prices. To :provide for this, the holder 6 is of hollow construction to produce a storage compartment or space accommodating a number of price indicating strips. Thus, it will be seen that a large number of price indicatingV strips are carriedwithin the device itself and are readily accessible for Ause when Vthe occasion arises by simply. withdrawing the holder vfrom the casing 5. Y

It 'is clearly shown in Figures l, 2 and 3 that what might Vbe said to be the outer end member extends beyond the ends and sides of the body of the'holder 6 for convenient manual engagement for the purpose of sliding or moving theholder with rrespect to the casing 5 and at the same time to close the outer ends or to form stopsfor the outer ends of the grooves l0 providing a simple means by which outward endwise movement of the various price indicating strips is limited. w-

With further reference to the means by which the several price indicating strips are held in place, it is pointed out that in addition to being snugly received in the grooves IU, such strips have theouterfaces thereof flatly against the transparent member 8 so that there can be no lateral or outward displacement of such strips.

' In" carrying out the invention itV is intended that `the chart carrier or holder 6 shall have a A' sn'ug'sliding nt within the casing 5, one that is responsive only vto manual movement ofthe members 5 and 6 with respect to each-othenand by reference to Figure 2 it will be seen that the opposite side walls of the chart'holder 6 are provided between theedges'thereof with lugs or protuberances V4t] adapted to be received in complemental sockets lor recesses 4I in the opposed walls of the casing 5 when the parts occupy the position shown in Figure I. From this it will be seen that when the Vparts 40 and 4l are in intertting relation, such parts cooperate with the frictional contact between the telescopingmembers 5 and 6 in holding the last mentioned members against shifting Vone withrespect to the other. f

,in use, the Yindicator may be carried on the person of a gasoline station attendant or con- ,venientlyg mounted onA a cash register or other support and when it is desired to determine the price of a given number of gallons of gasoline it is merelynecessary to draw the holder 6 out- Awardlyvuntil the number-of gallons purchased, lfor example, eight gallons appearing on the ribs S'comes in line'with the'outer end of the casing 5. With-the vquantity indicating number thus brought into line with the outer straight edge or end of the casing 5, the operator has only to glance along that samel line where there Will be found an indication of the price of the purchase being made, with'the result that the attendant is'relieved-of the necessity of the mental calculation`of the price bya process of multiplication.

With the purchase price thus determined it is simply necessary to return the chart holder 6 to the position shown in Figure 1 to allow the entire article to be conveniently carried upon the person.

It will also be apparent that, if desired, the operator may determine the price of a given number of -gallons of gasoline by simply holding the device in one hand, with the parts in the position shown in Figure l, and moving the thun-1b ofithe same hand or the index ringer of the other' hand into line with the desired gallon and price indications.

It is a simple matter to substitute for the strips mountedin the grooves I0 of the holder 6 those adapted for use in connection with gasoline at current prices, it being observed that the lower 'end of the holder 6 is fully open for the reception and removal of those price indicating strips not of immediate use. In this connection, it might be pointed out that since the storage space is open at the lower end and such lower end is 1ocated within the casing 5, there is prevented the accidental loss of the strips.

InFigure 5 there is shown a modified form of price indicating strip 50 having its opposite longitudinal edgesrounded or transversely curved for engagement vwith the correspondingly shaped side walls of the groove 52 to provide an interlocking connection between the strip 50 and the chart carrier 54 permitting endwise movement of the strip.

In the form of invention illustrated in Figure 6 the opposite longitudinal edge of the strip 60 and the opposite side walls of the groove 62 are dovetailed so as .to hold the strip in position in the groove and at the same time permit the strip to be conveniently moved endwise when it becomes necessary to do so.

Figure '7 illustrates another form of strip and groove wherein there is a tongue and groove connection between the strip 10 and the side walls of the groove 12.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

l. In an indicator for determining the price of purchases of gasoline by the gallons, a casing having one end thereof open and provided with a straight edge forming an indicating line, a chart holder snugly and slidably mounted in said casing and being provided with a plurality of spaced, longitudinally extending grooves and intervening ribs, certain of said ribs being provided with numbers arranged in columns and consecutively toindicatey gallons of gasoline, and strips detachably and slidably mounted in said grooves and bearing price indications for given numbers of gallons ofgasoline and being located in transverse alignment with the corresponding numbers on said ribs, said holder being provided with means for manual engagement to position said gallon and price indicating numbers in line with said straight edge of the casing.

2. In an indicating device of the character described, a casing having an open end and-a front wall provided with a window, a chart carrier movably mounted in said casing through the open endY thereof, said chart carrier being provided with a front Wall having a plurality of spaced, longitudinally extending grooves, price indicating strips removably mounted in said grooves, each of said strips being provided with numbers indicating the price of a given number of gallons of gasoline at a given rate per gallon, said carrier bearing gallon designations cooperating with the price indicating numbers on said strips, said gallon designations and price indicating numbers being visible through said window.

3. vIn an indicating device of the character described, a casing having an open end and a front Wall provided with a Window, a chart carrier movably mounted in said casing through the openv end thereof, said chart carrier being provided with a front wall having a plurality of spaced,

longitudinally extending grooves, price indicating strips removably mounted in said grooves, each of said strips bearing price designations for a given nurnber of gallons of gasoline at a given rate per gallon, said carrier bearing gallon designations cooperating with the price designations on said strips, said gallon and price designations being visible throughl said Window, said carrier being of hollow construction and having an open lower end to provide a storage space for additional price indicating strips.

4. In an indicator for determining the price of purchases of gasoline by the gallons, a casing having one end thereof open and provided With a straight edge forming` an indicating line, a chart holder detachably and slidably mounted in said casing and being provided with a pluralty of spaced, longitudinally extending grooves and intervening ribs, certain of said ribs bearing gallon designations, and strips detachably mounted in said grooves, each of said strips bearing price designations for given numbers of, gallons of gasoline at a given ratel per gallon and adapted for cooperation with said gallon designations on said ribs, said holder being provided with means for manual engagement to position said gallon and price designations in line with said straight edge of said casing, said holder being of hollow construction and having an open lower end to provide a storage space for additional price indicating strips. Y

5. In an indicator for determining the price of purchases oi gasoline by the gallons, a chart holder having a plurality oi spaced, longitudinally ,extending grooves, and price indicating strips detachably mounted in said grooves, veach of said strips bearing price designations for a given number ci gallons of gasoline at a given rate per gallon, said holder bearing gallon designations cooperating with the price designations of said strips, said holder being of 'hollow construction to provide a storage space for additional price indicating strips.Y

6. In an indicator for determining the price of purchases of gasoline by the gallons, a chart holder having a plurality of spaced, longitudinally extending grooves and intervening ribs, price indicating strips detachably mounted in said grooves, each of said strips bearing price designations for a given number of gallons of gasoline at a given rate per gallon, there being an interf locking connection between each ofV said strips and said grooves, certain offfsaid ribs being provided with gallon designations cooperating with the price designations of said strips, said holder beingr of hollow construction to provide a storage space for additional price indicating strips.

f ROGER G. WILLIAMS. 

